IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No.

10, (October 2016) 1469-1477

International Journal of Engineering RESEARCH

NOTE
Journal Homepage: www.ije.ir

Two-fluid Electrokinetic Flow in a Circular Microchannel

A. Jabari Moghadam*

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

PAPER INFO A B S T R A C T

Paper history: The two-fluid flow is produced by the combined effects of electroosmotic force in a conducting liquid
Received 29 May 2016 and pressure gradient force in a non-conducting liquid. The Poisson-Boltzmann and Navier-Stokes
Received in revised form 17 July 2016 equations are solved analytically; and the effects of governing parameters are examined. Poiseuille
Accepted 25 August 2016
number increases with increasing the parameters involved. In the absence of pressure gradient, the two
fluids demonstrate plug-like velocity profiles. The results reveal that the two-fluid electroosmotic
Keywords: pumping flow rate is feasible for a relatively small interface zeta potential; or large wall zeta potential
Electroosmosis and electrokinetic radius. For particular values of the governing parameters, the flow rate approaches a
Pressure-gradient specific value as the electrokinetic radius tends to infinity. A back flow (a negative value of the
Two-fluid stratified Flow resultant flow rate) occurs for sufficiently small values of the wall zeta potential or sufficiently large
Exact Solution values of the interface zeta potential (even in the case of pressure-assisted flow). Zero-value flow rates
may also be attained.
doi: 10.5829/idosi.ije.2016.29.10a.18

NOMENCLATURE
dp dz pressure gradient [Pa/m]
e electron charge [C] z axial coordinate [m]
E axial electrical field strength [V/m] Z Dimensionless wall zeta potential
f friction factor Z0 dimensionless interface zeta potential
I  x  modified Bessel function of the first kind of order   Valence of ionic species
K  x  modified Bessel function of the second kind of order  Greek symbols
kB Boltzmann constant [J/K]  liquid dynamic viscosity [kg/m.s]

n0 bulk ion concentration [m ]-3

 rz shear stress [Pa]

Po Poiseuille number  dimensionless shear stree

q liquid-2 flow rate ratio  the electro-kinetic radius
Q dimensionless volumetric flow rate  electric permittivity of solution [F/m]
r radial coordinate [m]  Debye-Huckel parameter [m-1]
 radius of the micro-channel [m]  fluid density [kg/m3]
0 Radius of interface [m] e net volume charge density [C m-3]
R dimensionless radial coordinate  eis dimensionless interface charge density
R0 Dimensionless radius of interface  electrical potential [V]
Re Reynolds number  dimensionless electrical potential
T absolute temperature [K]  zeta potential at the wall [V]
U Hs Helmholtz-Smoluchowski velocity [m/s] 0 zeta potential at the interface [V]
U PD pressure-driven reference velocity [m/s]  liquid dynamic viscosity [kg/m.s]
V dimensionless axial velocity subscripts
Vz axial velocity [m/s] 1, 2 conducting , non-conducting liquids

*Corresponding Author’s Email: alijabari@shahroodut.ac.ir (A. Jabari Moghadam)‎

Please cite this article as: A. Jabari Moghadam, Two-fluid Electrokinetic Flow in a Circular Microchannel, International Journal of Engineering
(IJE), TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477
 A. Jabari Moghadam / IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477
1. INTRODUCTION
Unlike flows in conventional macro-sized channels, the
analysis of flow in micro-channels has to take into
consideration the presence of the electric double layer
(EDL), which is formed as a result of the interaction
between the charged wall surface and ionized solution.
The fluid is then moved by applying an electric field to
the EDL. Since the surface to volume ratio in
microscale is large, electroosmotic flow (EOF) would
be more efficient than ordinary pressure-driven flows.
EOF micropumps contain no moving parts and are
relatively easy to integrate in microfluidic circuits
during fabrication. Microfluidic devices utilizing EOF
have great applications with medical research as well as
some other fields such as physics and chemistry (in fuel
cells, soil analysis and processing, and chemistry
analysis). Understanding the electrokinetic-driven flows
in various geometries and the complete control of the
flows at micro-scales will allow the construction of
highly complex and efficient microsystems, where
fluids can circulate in a controlled manner, performing a
large number of tasks in a maze of microchannel [1, 2].
Extensive studies have been conducted to explore
the behavior of electro-osmotic flow in micro-scale
devices. Squires and Bazant [3] described the general
phenomenon of induced-charge electro-osmosis (ICEO)
which includes a wide variety of techniques for driving
micro-flows around conducting or dielectric surfaces
using AC or DC electric fields. Arulanandam and Li [4]
studied the liquid movement in a rectangular micro-
channel by electro-osmotic pumping. They used a 2D
Poisson-Boltzmann equation and the 2D momentum
equation to model the problem. The flow field and
volumetric flow rate were presented as functions of the
zeta potential, the ionic concentration, the aspect ratio,
and the applied electrical field. Dutta and Beskok [5]
presented analytical results for velocity distribution,
mass flow rate, pressure gradient, wall shear stress, and
vorticity in mixed electro-osmotic/pressure driven flows
for two-dimensional straight channel geometry. Tang et
al. [6] investigated the electro-osmotic flow in
axisymmetric micro-ducts. They presented
axisymmetric lattice Boltzmann models to solve the
electric potential distribution and the velocity field.
Wang and Kang [7] presented a numerical solution
based on coupled lattice Boltzmann methods for electro-
kinetic flows in micro-channels. Xuan and Li [8] used a
semi-analytical approach to investigate electro-osmotic
flows in micro-channels with arbitrary cross-sectional
geometry and distribution of wall charge. Kang et al. [9]
solved the electro-osmotic flow problem in a cylindrical
channel for only sinusoidal waveform by the Green’s
function method. Tsao [10] studied the electroosmotic
flow through an annulus under the constant electric field
condition. Kang et al. [11] investigated the steady-state
1470
electroosmotic flow in a capillary annulus under the
situation when the two cylindrical walls carry high zeta
potentials. In their study, the non-linear term of the
Poisson-Boltzmann equation (i.e. hyperbolic sine) has
been approximated by some proposed relations.
Erickson and Li [12] presented a combined
theoretical and numerical approach to investigate the
time periodic electro-osmotic flow in a rectangular
micro-channel. Comprehensive models for a slit channel
have also been presented by Dutta and Beskok [13] who
developed an analytical model for an applied sinusoidal
electric field. Green et al. [14] experimentally observed
peak flow velocities on the order of hundreds of
micrometers per second near a set of parallel electrodes
subject to two AC fields, 180 degrees out-of-phase with
each other. The effect was subsequently modeled using
a linear double layer analysis by Gonzalez et al. [15].
Using a similar principal, both Brown et al. [16] and
Studer et al. [17] presented microfluidic devices that
incorporated arrays of non-uniformly sized embedded
electrodes which, when subject to an AC field, were
able to generate a bulk fluid motion. Moghadam [18-20]
obtained exact solutions of AC electroosmotic flows in
circular and annular microchannels by using the Green’s
function method. The flow fields excited by various
time-periodic electric currents were also examined.
Moghadam and Akbarzadeh [21] examined time-
periodic EOF of a non-Newtonian fluid in
microchannels using a numerical scheme. Also, the
problem of thermally-developing electroosmotic flow in
a circular microchannel [22] was studied under DC
electric field; and some analytic solutions were
obtained. Wang et al. [23] studied the mixing
enhancement by the electroosmotic flow in
microchannels using the Lattice-Boltzmann methods.
Also, the numerical results of electroosmotic flows in
micro- and nanofluidics using a Lattice Poisson-
Boltzmann method were presented [24] to solve the
non-linear governing equations.
Some liquids, such as non-polar fluids with very low
electrical conductivity, cannot form EDLs; hence, they
cannot be directly pumped using electroosmosis. A
conducting pumping liquid driven by EOF can pull a
non-conducting working fluid by viscous forces. In
some biochemical analysis, on the other hand, EOF
pumps may not be suitable to be used directly with the
water solutions, because the voltage applied can lead to
electrochemical decomposition of the solute, fluctuation
of the buffer solution pH and generation of gases [25].
In these cases, an EOF, which is driven thru layers of
the conducting liquid, is utilized to pump a non-
conducting liquid. This allows for new types of analysis
in the field of micro Total Analysis Systems (µTAS)
which may prove important in the drug industry and for
environmental monitoring. The characteristics flow rate
and pressure of the pump are in the range of nL/s and
1471 A. Jabari Moghadam / IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477

kPa, respectively; but depends largely on geometrical as is a non-conducting liquid and the outer fluid is a
well as electrical properties. In order to drive low EO conducting liquid. Electric double layers form at the
mobility liquids and also avoid the aforementioned wall as well as at the liquid-liquid interface, which are
problems, Brask et al. [26] and Watanabe et al. [25], in contact with the high EO mobility liquid. The zeta
independently, proposed the idea of using high EO potential at the wall and at the interface are  and  0 ,
mobility liquids as driving mechanism to drag another respectively. The electroosmosis body force (applied on
fluid. The flow of two immiscible fluids was modeled the liquid 1) and the pressure-gradient body force
by Ngoma and Erchiqui [27] in a parallel-plate (applied on the liquid 2) are along the z-direction.
microchannel; and the effects of pressure gradient and
electroosmosis were studied. Gao et al. [28] studied 2. 1. Potential Field The electric potential
two-fluid EOF in a rectangular microchannel, and distribution for a symmetric electrolyte due to the
examine the effects of various variables on the flow presence of EDL is determined by the Poisson-
field. Analytic solutions of transient electroosmotic and Boltzmann equation [34, 35]:
pressure-driven flow of two-layer fluids was obtained
by Su et al. [29] and Gao et al. [30] in slit and d 2 1 d 2en 0  e 
  sinh   (1)
rectangular microchannels, respectively. Stiles et al. dr 2 r dr   k BT 
[31] proposed a simple method to focus the sample
stream by using either a single suction pump or where,  ,  , e , n0 ,  , k B , and T are the electrical
capillary pumping effect. The focused stream width was potential, the valence, the electron charge, the bulk ion
controlled by varying the relative resistances of the side concentration, the electric permittivity of the electrolyte,
and inlet channel flows. Fu at al. [32] presented the Boltzmann constant, and the absolute temperature,
experimental and numerical results electrokinetic flow respectively. The boundary conditions are:
injection. By applying different voltages at different
parts of the channel, the sample fluid can be directed   r     (2a)
into a specific outlet channel. An analytical model was
presented by Afonso at al. [33] to describe a two-fluid   r  0    0 (2b)
electroosmotic flow of Newtonian and viscoelastic
fluids in a planar microchannel. Introducing the following dimensionless variables:
While the previous studies consider the flow in
r e
microtubes under various conditions, there is a distinct R ,   (3)
lack of discussion on the hydrodynamic behavior of the  k BT
combined electroosmotic and pressure-driven flow in and under the Debye-Huckel approximation
 e  k BT  , we write Equation (1) in dimensionless
circular microchannels. This paper presents an analytic
solution of two-fluid EOF in a circular microchannel
which is driven by electroosmosis and pressure gradient form as follows:
effects; the surface charge at the liquid-liquid interface
d 2 1 d 
is also taken into account. This EOF pump consists of    2 (4)
two immiscible liquids: a high EO mobility or dR 2 R dR
conducting liquid near the channel wall and a low EO in which,     is the electrokinetic radius (the length
mobility or non-conducting liquid around the channel scale ratio);  is the Debye-Huckel parameter defined
centerline. The liquid-liquid interface has excess surface as:
charge density. The applied external electric field
12
interacts with net charges within the double layers (at  22e 2 n 0 
the wall and at the interface) and creates an    (5)
electroosmotic body force on the bulk conducting   k BT 
liquid; a pressure gradient may also be applied across
the non-conducting liquid. The non-conducting liquid is
delivered by the applied pressure gradient force as well
as the interfacial viscous force of the conducting liquid
driven by electroosmosis. The resultant body force
drives the two-liquid field whose characteristics depend
on the relative intensity of each body force.

2. GOVERNING EQUATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

A circular microchannel is filled with two immiscible

fluids (illustrated in Figure 1), in which, the inner fluid Figure 1. cross-section of the two-fluid microchannel
 A. Jabari Moghadam / IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477 1472

The boundary conditions (2) in dimensionless form are: where, L is the distance between the two electrodes, 
  R  1  Z (6a) is the body force ratio, U PD and U HS are the pressure-
driven and Helmholtz-Smoluchowski reference
  R  R0   Z 0 (6b) velocities, respectively, expressed by:
It is noted that 0  R 0  1 . Solution of (4) subjected to 2  dp   k BTE z
U PD     ; U HS  (14)
(6) is: 42  dz  e 1
K 0   R   Z 0 I 0  x   Z I 0   R 0   I 0   R   Z 0 K 0     Z K 0   R 0 
 R   (7) Then, Equations (8)-(10) become:
K 0   R0  I 0     K 0    I 0   R0 
d 2V 1 1 dV 1
It should be noted that the electric potential for    2  0 (15)
dR 2 R dR
0  R  R 0 is zero; while it is specified by Equation (7)
d 2V 2 1 dV 2
for R 0  R  1 .   4  0 (16)
dR 2 R dR

2. 2. Velocity Field It is assumed that the two V1  V2 

 
immiscible liquids are Newtonian; so the fully-  dV1 dV2 s  (17)
 R     ei 
R R  R0
21
developed EOF for the conducting liquid is described by
the following simplified momentum equation [34, 35]:
in which, 21 is called the viscosity ratio. There are, in
  2V z 1 1 V z 1   e  addition, two further boundary conditions:
1     2en 0 sinh  Ez (8)
  r 2
r  r   k BT 
dV2
V1  R  1  0 ,  R  0  0 (18)
where, V z 1 is the only non-zero velocity component of dR
liquid 1 along the microchannel, 1 is the viscosity of Equations (15) and (16) are now solved with respect to
liquid 1, and E z is the electric field strength. For the boundary conditions (17) and (18).
non-conducting liquid, the momentum equation gives: V1  R   Z  2  21 R02 ln  R 
I 0   R   Z 0 K 0     Z K 0   R0    K 0   R   Z I 0   R0   Z 0 I 0     (19)
  2V z 2 1 V z 2  dp 
2   K 0   R0  I 0     K 0    I 0   R0 
 (9)
 r r  r  dz
2

At the interface  r  0  , matching conditions must be V2  R     R02 1  221 ln  R0    R 2   Z  Z0 (20)

satisfied. They are the continuities of velocity and shear One the flow field is determined, the Poiseuille number
stress which are represented as:  Po  , the non-dimensional volumetric flow rate  Q  ,
V z 1 V z 2  and the liquid-2 flow rate ratio  q  can be obtained by
 
 V z 1 V z 2 s  (10) the following formula:

 1 r    E 
z ei 
r at r 0
2
Po  f .Re  2W R 1 (21)
in which, the interface charge density,  , is calculated s
ei
1 R0

from:
Q  Q1  Q 2   RV dR   RV dR
R0
1
0
2 (22)

 
eis    r  0  in dimensionless form eis   R  R0  (11) q  Q2 Q (23)
r R

The latter can be determined by differentiating Equation in which, f  2 w  U  ,

1
2

HS
Re  1U HS  1 and
(7) evaluated at R  R 0 :    rz

 U     V1 R . The above quantities
1 HS

 I 1   R 0   Z 0 K 0     ZK 0   R 0    K 1   R 0   Z 0 I 0     ZI 0   R 0  are presented below:

eis  (12)
K 0  R0  I 0     K 0    I 0  R0 
Po  221 R02
To non-dimensionalize Equations (8)-(10), we would 

 I1     Z 0 K 0     ZK 0   R0   K1     Z 0 I 0     ZI 0   R0   (24)
introduce Equation (3) together with the following K 0    I 0   R0   K 0   R0  I 0   

reference quantities:
V z1 Vz2 Z R 02 R4
V1 
U HS
, V2 
U HS
Q   21  Z 0   0  1  221 
2 2 4
(13) Nume .
(25)
Ez L U PD 
E  , 
 U HS K 0  R0  I 0     K 0    I 0  R0 
1473 A. Jabari Moghadam / IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477

Nume .  R 0 K 1   R 0   Z I 0   R 0   Z 0 I 0    
 R 0 I 1   R 0   Z K 0   R 0   Z 0 K 0   
(26)
 I 1     Z 0 K 0     Z K 0   R 0  
 K 1     Z 0 I 0     Z I 0   R 0  

q
R 02
4Q

2  Z  Z 0   R 02 1  421 ln  R 0   (27)

(a)

3. Results and Discussion

The effects of non-dimensional governing parameters

on the hydrodynamic features of two-fluid
electroosmotically and pressure-driven flow are
examined in a circular micrichannel. A non-conducting
(b) (c)
liquid (low EO fluid) holds the central portion of the
Figure 2. (a) Dimensionless potential distributions for
channel, and a conducting liquid (high EO fluid) holds
the area close to the wall. The normalized zeta R0  0.8 , Z  0.5 , Z 0  0.25 and two values of  , (b) and
potentials (at the wall and at the interface) are selected (c) Dimensionless velocity profiles for comparison
within the bounds imposed by the Debye-Hückel
linearization. The characteristic scale of the
microchannel to Debye length (the electrokinetic radius)
is considered in the range of   100  1000 to
investigate the essential features of EOF in a 100 m
microchannel.
Figure 2a shows the non-dimensional potential
distribution in the microchannel cross-sectional area for
(a) (b)
two different values of  . Two electric double layers,
close to the wall and near the liquid-liquid interface, are
formed in the high EO mobility liquid due to the
existence of wall and interfacial zeta potentials,
respectively. The value of  determines the EDL
thickness; a larger value of  (a larger bulk-ionic
concentration and/or a larger channel size) corresponds (c) (d)
to a thinner EDL. Figures 2a and 2b may be comparable
with Figures 3b and 5a, respectively, in [28]; and show
similar trends. The flow velocity of the conducting fluid
(Figure 2c) was favorably compared with Figure 1b in
[25] achieved using the analytic approach employed for
a single conducting fluid flow thru a circular
microchannel.
The two-liquid flow is driven by the pressure- (e) (f)
gradient body force of the non-conducting liquid as well Figure 3. Variations of non-dimensional velocity profiles
as the electric body/surface force of conducting liquid. with (a)  (b) Z 0 (c) Z (d)  21 (e)  (f) 
It is noted that the electric body force results from the
interaction of the external electric field with the
volumetric local net charges in the high EO mobility As shown in Figure 3a, higher electrokinetic radius
liquid, while, the electric surface force is due to the corresponds to higher velocity gradients at the wall and
effect of the external electric field on the interface free at the interface; also, maximum velocity within the EDL
charges. increases. Figure 3b shows that a decrease in Z 0 causes
The combined effects of driving forces on the velocity of liquid 2 to increase, since the surface
dimensionless velocity profiles of the two liquids are charges at the interface generate a force acting in the
illustrated in Figure 3. opposite direction to the EOF body force in the EDL
 A. Jabari Moghadam / IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477 1474

region at the vicinity of the interface. When zeta

potential at the wall is decreased (Figure 3c), the flow
velocity is obviously decreases. When 21 is high, the
flow resistance of the non-conducting liquid is higher
than that of the conducting liquid, hence maximum
velocity of liquid 1 is enhanced and so its velocity
gradient (Figure 3d). In the case of small viscosity ratio, (a)
the non-conducting liquid is relatively easy to be
dragged by the conducting liquid, and therefore the
velocity gradient of liquid 1 reduces. Figure 3e
demonstrates that larger  results in higher values of
velocity, as well as a larger curvature of liquid-2 profile
and a steeper incline of liquid-1 profile. Effect of   0 ,
as illustrated in Figure 3f, is to produce plug-like
velocity profiles for both liquids (independent of 21 (b) (c)
selection). Figure 5. Poiseuille number against (a) R0 with 21  1 and
Variations of the Poiseuille number versus  and   0.5 , (b)  21 with R0  0.8 and   0.5 and (c)  with
Z are illustrated in Figure 4. It can be seen that R0  0.8 and  21  1 for   1000 , Z 0  0.25
increasing  has the same effect as Z which is
increasing the Poiseuille number. By increasing  , the
Debye length is reduced, resulting in a higher velocity
gradient inside the EDL and consequently a more
Poiseuille number. The Poiseuille number value grows
by increasing Z too, since higher electroosmotic force
and therefore larger velocity gradient within the EDL
will be produced.
Variables R 0 , 21 and  have also increasing effects
(a) (b)
on the Poiseuille number (Figure 5). According to
Equation (24), Po has a linear relationship with 21
and  and almost a quadratic relationship with R 0 . All
these variables cause the velocity gradient inside the
Debye length to increase, hence Po increases.
Figure 6 depicts dimensionless volumetric flow rate
as a function of  , Z , Z 0 , R 0 , 21 and  . As can be (c) (d)
seen in Figure 6a, for each individual set of data, the
two-fluid flow rate approaches a specific value as
   ; for instance, Q  0.2788 for set of given
parameters Z  0.5 , Z 0  0.25 , R0  0.8 , 21  1 , and
  0.5 .

(e) (f)
Figure 6. Variations of volumetric flow rate with (a)  (b)
Z (c) Z 0 (d) R0 (e)  21 and (f) 

The flow rate has an ascending behavior with the wall

zeta potential (Figure 6b), since higher electroosmotic
(a) (b) force is produced by increasing Z ; on the contrary, an
Figure 4. Poiseuille number against (a)  with Z  0.5 , and increase of Z 0 causes a decrease in Q due to generating
(b) Z with   1000 for Z 0  0.25 , R0  0.8 ,  21  1 and an opposite force (Figure 6c). An increase of R 0 may
  0.5 increase or decrease the flow rate, depending on  .
1475 A. Jabari Moghadam / IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477
Interestingly, in this case, there are two values of R 0
which produce the same flow rate (Figure 6d). Figures
6e and 6f show that increasing 21 and  cause the flow
rate to increase. Higher 21 means relatively lower
viscosity and so higher velocity of liquid 1; higher 
means relatively higher velocity of liquid 2.
Effects of parameters involved in liquid-2 flow rate
ratio are illustrated in Figure 7. The non-conducting
liquid is slightly affected by  and Z . Figure 7c shows
that Z 0 has descending influence on q , because the
interface free charges induce a resistance to the flow and
cause a smaller flow rate of the non-conducting liquid.
For some special value of Z 0 , q will be zero; and
beyond that particular Z 0 , a reversing flow will be
observed. As shown in Figure 7d, the proportion of non-
conducting liquid is obviously increased with increasing
R 0 . When 21 increases, the relative importance of
non-conducting liquid viscosity increases (or
conducting liquid viscosity decreases); as liquids 1 and
2 are driven by electroosmosis and pressure-gradient,
respectively, the combined effect is to enhance the
liquid-2 flow rate slightly (Figure 7e). Liquid 2 is
directly influenced by  , and its flow rate increases
with increasing the body force ratio.
The volumetric flow rate may be negative for
sufficiently small values of Z or sufficiently large
values of Z 0 (Figure 8).
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e) (f)
Figure 7. Variations of the liquid-2 flow rate ratio with (a)
 (b) Z (c) Z 0 (d) R0 (e)  21 and (f) 
At some special values of Z and Z 0 where Q  0 , the
q curves demonstrate singularities due to diminishing
the denominator of Equation (23).
4. CONCLUSIONS
Analytic solutions of linear Poisson-Boltzmann and
Navier-Stokes equations are obtained in a circular
microchannel, considering the electroosmosis-driven
force and the pressure-driven force as body forces in a
conducting and non-conducting incompressible fluids,
respectively. The flow behavior depends on the
coupling effect between the two liquids. The external
electric intensity interacts with the free charges at the
liquid-liquid interface to generate a surface force. Upon
the application of the electric field, the flow is activated
in regions close to the channel wall and the interface.
The results of the current research are summarized
below:
I. Larger values of electrokinetic radius
correspond to smaller values of Debye length
and higher velocity gradients near the wall; this
leads to larger electroosmotic forces.
II. The interaction between the interface free
charges and the external electric field produces
a force acting in the opposite direction to the
electroosmotic body force in the EDL.
III. A steeper velocity gradient is observed in the
conducting liquid for higher viscosity ratio.
IV. An increase in the body force ratio results in
increasing the flow velocity, and also curving
the non-conducting fluid velocity profile and
inclining the conducting fluid velocity profile.
V. When body force ratio is zero, both liquids
attain plug-like velocity profiles.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 8. Variations of volumetric flow rate with (a) Z and
(b) Z 0 , and variations of the liquid-2 flow rate ratio with (c) Z
and (d) Z 0
 A. Jabari Moghadam / IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 29, No. 10, (October 2016) 1469-1477
VI. Poiseuille number is an increasing function of
electrokinetic radius, wall zeta potential,
interface radius, viscosity ratio, and body force
ratio.
VII. Dimensionless volumetric flow rate approaches
a specific value as    (for the
parameters involved). It is enhanced with
increasing the wall zeta potential, while an
opposite trend is observed with increasing the
interface zeta potential. The flow rate may
have ascending or descending trend with the
interface radius, depending on the body force
ratio. Viscosity ratio and body force ratio both
are means of flow rate enhancement. For
sufficiently small values of the wall zeta
potential or sufficiently large values of the
interface zeta potential, the volumetric flow
rate may become negative (an entirely back
flow). A zero flow rate is clearly attainable.
VIII. Beyond some particular value of the interface
zeta potential, a back flow may be observed.
IX. The proportion of non-conducting liquid flow
rate is enhanced by increasing the viscosity
ratio as well as the body force ratio.
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Two-fluid Electrokinetic Flow in a Circular Microchannel RESEARCH

NOTE

A. Jabari Moghadam

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

PAPER INFO ‫چكيده‬

Paper history:
Received 29 May 2016 .‫ بٍيسیلٍی اثز تزکیبی ویزيی الکتزياسمًتیک در مایع رساوا ي گزادیان فشار در مایع وارساوا ایجاد میشًد‬،ٍ‫جزیان ديسیال‬
Received in revised form 17 July 2016
Accepted 25 August 2016 ‫ عذد‬.‫استًکس بٍ صًرت تحلیلی حل میشًوذ؛ ي اثز پارامتزَای حاکم بزرسی میگزدد‬-‫بًلتشمه ي وايیز‬-‫معادلٍَای پًاسًن‬
-‫ پزيفیلَای تًپی شکل را بٍ ومایش می‬،‫در غیاب گزادیان فشار‬، ‫ دي سیال‬.‫ سیاد میشًد‬،‫پًاسی با افشایش پارامتزَای درگیز‬
Keywords:
Electroosmosis ‫ یا‬،‫ بٍ اسای پتاوسیل ستای وسبتا کًچک مزس دي سیال‬،ٍ‫ اس وتایج آشکار میشًد کٍ دبی پمپاص الکتزياسمًتیک ديسیال‬.‫گذاروذ‬
Pressure-gradient
Two-fluid stratified Flow
‫ بزای مقادیز بخصًصی اس‬.‫ امکانپذیز ي قابل دستزسی است‬،‫مقادیز بشرگ پتاوسیل ستای دیًار ي شعاع الکتزيسیىتیک بشرگ‬
Exact Solution ‫ بٍ اسای مقادیز بٍ قذر کافی کًچک‬.‫ دبی بٍ یک مقذار خاص میرسذ‬،‫ با میل شعاع الکتزيسیىتیک بٍ بیىُایت‬،‫پارامتزَای حاکم‬
‫ جزیان بزگشتی (مقذار مىفی بزآیىذ دبی) رخ میدَذ (حتا‬،‫پتاوسیل ستای دیًار یا مقادیز بٍ قذر کافی بشرگ پتاوسیل ستای مزس‬
.‫ دبیَای صفز ویش ممکه است بٍ دست آیذ‬.)‫در حالت جزیان یاری شًوذٌ تًسط فشار‬
doi: 10.5829/idosi.ije.2016.29.10a.18